Plant Operations Director

Pullman Regional Hospital•Pullman, WA

3d•$112,195 - $175,302

About The Position

The Director of Plant Operations provides strategic and operational leadership for facilities, maintenance, and plant operations. The initial priority is to develop a skilled, sustainable Maintenance Engineering Level 2 team and transfer institutional knowledge from experienced employees approaching retirement. The Director helps maintain a safe, functional, reliable, and regulatory-compliant environment of care, working with clinical and non-clinical leaders to support patient care, employee safety, operational continuity, regulatory readiness, and organizational reliability. In Year One, the Director assesses staffing and skill requirements, recruits and develops up to two Maintenance Engineers Level 2, and establishes knowledge-transfer and succession-planning processes. Working with experienced maintenance staff and the Director of Facilities, the Director captures knowledge about systems, preventive maintenance, regulatory requirements, and site-specific practices. The Director also identifies construction projects that can be brought in-house and starts at least one to two such projects in coordination with the Director of Maintenance. In Year Two, the Director develops and implements a long-term Plant Operations structure integrating maintenance, biomedical services, grounds, emergency management, safety, security, and environmental services. The role establishes leadership and accountability structures, workflows, performance expectations, succession plans, and a transition plan for progressively delegating operational responsibilities to managers and supervisors. The Director oversees the safe, reliable, and efficient operation and maintenance of the physical plant and infrastructure; maintenance and capital priorities; regulatory and accreditation readiness; emergency preparedness; departmental integration and performance measurement; budgets and resource use; and collaboration with organizational leaders. The position promotes accountability, safety, teamwork, professional development, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

At least six years of experience in plant operations, including at least two years in a supervisory capacity.
Experience directing overall hospital plant operations, maintenance, and construction, including safe and efficient operation of institutional services systems in conformity with fire, safety, sanitary, and medical regulatory requirements.
High school diploma or equivalent.
Proven experience in leadership and team management.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
Excellent problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and strategically.
Demonstrated ability to lead change and foster innovation.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor of Science in Engineering or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Experience in a hospital or healthcare facility.
Journeyman-level expertise in HVAC, general construction, electrical, or plumbing fields.

Responsibilities

Develop an organizational transition plan and implementation timeline, including roles, reporting relationships, decision-making authority, performance expectations, accountability, and appropriate span of control.
Develop standardized processes for communication, work prioritization, escalation, and resource allocation, and establish measurable departmental performance expectations.
Assess staffing and skills, recruit, select, onboard, and develop up to two Maintenance Engineers Level 2, and establish competency, training, and performance standards.
Develop cross-training strategies and adequate coverage for critical systems and call coverage.
Lead a knowledge-transfer program with experienced maintenance personnel and the Director of Facilities; document critical operational knowledge and mitigate single points of failure.
Maintain succession plans for critical technical and leadership positions and develop emerging leaders through coaching, mentoring, and developmental opportunities.
Identify construction projects suitable for in-house execution, complete at least one to two projects with maintenance staff, and track expenses and labor savings to assess return on investment.
Develop and implement a future-state Plant Operations organizational structure integrating maintenance, biomedical services, grounds, emergency management, safety, security, and environmental services.
Develop standardized documentation for building systems, equipment, infrastructure, preventive maintenance, troubleshooting, emergency response, vendor relationships, regulatory requirements, and system operations.
Prepare facilities personnel to respond to infrastructure failures and emergencies; maintain response plans for critical utility and infrastructure disruptions; and participate in emergency management and business continuity planning.
Oversee safe, reliable, and efficient operation and maintenance of the physical plant and infrastructure, including preventive and corrective maintenance and coordination with outside contractors when needed.
Establish maintenance project, repair, replacement, and capital priorities; monitor infrastructure condition and reliability; and recommend replacements, renovations, and improvements.
Support compliance with applicable regulatory, accreditation, life-safety, building, environmental, and occupational safety requirements; maintain survey readiness, documentation, and processes to track and resolve deficiencies.
Participate in Environment of Care and other assigned safety and regulatory committees.
Integrate maintenance, biomedical, grounds, emergency management, safety, security, and environmental services through shared expectations, coordination, and performance measures.
Develop dashboards or metrics covering preventive maintenance, work orders, reliability, compliance, safety, response times, staffing and competency, environmental services, security, and emergency management; use data for improvement and risk reduction.
Develop and manage departmental budgets; evaluate staffing, equipment, service contracts, and capital needs; monitor spending and resource use; and recommend long-term infrastructure investments.
Identify opportunities to reduce unnecessary reliance on outside contractors while maintaining appropriate expertise and service quality.
Collaborate with clinical, administrative, quality, safety, risk, infection prevention, and other departments to address facility-related risks.
Communicate operational risks, infrastructure needs, staffing, regulatory concerns, and long-term plans to executive leadership.
Promote accountability, teamwork, safety, customer service, operational excellence, respect, professional development, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement.